Slow Burn
by CoLtOnCaVaNaUgH
Summary: Slightly AU. Gender Swap. Santi started the Glee club to bring Finn Hudson down a few social pegs. That was until he started to feel something for the young starlett Rachel Berry. Now with feelings in the air and futures uncertain can Santi convince Rachel that he has been the one for her all along?
1. Chapter 1

Things hadn't been the same for him since she decided to go to

NYADA. It's not like she was his to begin with, but he had a soft spot in his

heart for her. A spot that if he kept examining it the way he did he would honestly tell you had developed into something a lot like love. Hell if he were honest with himself he would know that what he felt for the shining star was in fact love. Yet if you were to ask him how he felt he would feign apathy

to the whole situation. Here he was the school bad boy, the boy from the

wrong neighborhood, the boy that was rumored to have been kicked out of

his parents house when he hit his dad, the guy that had slept with most if not all of the female population at his high school. All the girls except the one that was making him dig deep inside himself every day to be a better man. He was everything that she didn't need in her seemingly perfect life but she was everything he wanted in his understandably shitty one. His name was Alejandro Santiago Lopez, but everyone called him Santiago or Santi as he was affectionately called by his on again off again girlfriend Quinn. Who coincidently was in the off again position since it was widely known to everyone that Quinn's affections lied with the other McKinley resident bad boy Noah Puckerman, Puck for short. Santi didn't like playing second fiddle to anyone and he didn't feel the need to make Quinn feel like she was second best to Rachel Berry.

She was the reason that Santi stayed late at school everyday after football practice and why he has subsequently ended his tumultuous relationship with the head cheerleader and she was also the reason that the resident stud of the high school hadn't had any questionable relationships with various other girls. Alas, Rachel Berry was unattainable. Not only was she going to NYADA after graduation but she was currently dating his teammate Finn Hudson. Hudson was the quarter back he was everything that a girl like Rachel needed and wanted in her life. He was dependable, popular, and hadn't had the type of life that Santi himself had.

Santiago wanted nothing more than to knock Hudson down a few pegs and it was because of this that Santiago had forced his best friend, Puck, to join him their sophomore year and join the Glee club, the club that coincidently had one Rachel Berry as the star singer and he goof of a boyfriend as her co-captain. Santi and Puck had joined the club one because at the time Coach Tanaka had wanted to keep an eye on the Glee instructor and make sure that he wasn't making a play for the coach's woman. Then Santi decided to sabotage the whole club by leaking set lists and ruining performances and blaming it all on the tall oofish Finn. All of this stopped though when for some god forsaken reason he got a heart. He had leaked the set list to the competition at regionals and saw how truly devasted it made Rachel when she thought that her whole singing career was a wash.

It was then that he decided to try and stop being a dick and actually try to participate in glee club and at least have a good time. In his junior year his heart started to thaw towards the small brunette. That year was the year things would change for him that year was the year he would work his way into Rachel's heart. But like most of Santiago's plans that idea crashed and burned.


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel POV

She knew that she needed to end things with Finn. She knew that what everyone was saying was right, that he would hold her back when they got to New York. He hadn't gotten into the acting college and she knew that taking him with her would cause resentment to somehow flourish in the young man's chest. She knew all of this yet she hadn't done anything about it because truth be told she was scared. Scared of going to New York and failing at her dream, scared that if she broke up with Finn then no one would love her and she'd be alone forever. On the outside she was confident, poised, and a diva. On the inside she was terrified of rejection, scared of the unknown future, and worried that she would forever be alone. She was graduating in 3 months and the closer it got to that milestone day the more she questioned her future with Finn.

" Rachel, earth to Rachel." She was brought out of her thoughts by none other than Finn himself.

"I'm sorry did you say something?"

"Yea, I did. I was wondering if you would meet me in the auditorium later today?" he said slightly more nervous than normal.

"Yes Finn I will. What time?"

"Around 3:30."

"Ok I'll see you then. I have to I'm sorry I'll be late for calculus."

"OK I love you." He said to the already retreating diva.

"You too." Came the hurried response.

She arrived right before the bell rang, took her seat and then let her mind wonder. It was because of her reverie that she hadn't noticed that not only had the teacher come in but so had a new student. Well not new to school but certainly new to her calculus class. The student was Santiago Lopez. She knew Santi because not only was he her boyfriends team mate but he was also the on again off again boyfriend of her best friend Quinn.

"Take a seat by Miss Berry, Mr. Lopez." Said the calculus teacher Mrs. Rivera.

Rachel wasn't sure but she thought that she noticed a little hesitation in Santiago's steps.

"I didn't know you were taking calculus Mr. Lopez." Rachel said with a mixture of disbelief and amazement. It wasn't everyday a football player was put into an AP Calculus class. Especially the semester of graduation, the last semester of school.

"There's a lot you don't know about me Miss Berry." Said Santi with a twinkle in his eyes. She was sure she saw but she wasn't sure if she had imagined the flirtatious tone in his voice or if it was truly there and he was flirting with her, his teammates girlfriend and his ex's best friend.

"I have some notes that you can look at for some things that we went over before break last semester." Rachel offered.

"Yeah thanks that would be awesome I don't want to fall completely behind." Said Santi as he pulled out his notebook and smiled, what Rachel would describe as a thousand watt smile to rival her own.

The truth was she had a special place in her heart for the latin boy. He had always treated Quinn exceptionally well even if she hadn't made it easy for him. When Rachel had first met Santiago she knew he was different. On the outside he was a bad boy, someone who seemingly didn't care what the world thought about him, which was something that Rachel herself aspired to achieve. He also didn't have a problem letting people know what he thought and that was also something that Rachel appreciated. Yet she knew that deep down he was kind and caring. He had shown his caring side their junior year and Rachel hadn't forgotten that. This was going to be a very interesting 3 months.


	3. Chapter 3

Junior Year

"I guess I understand." Said Santiago. The truth was he understood completely but that was something that he was going to keep to himself. Quinn his girlfriend of 1 year (this go around) was breaking up with him. He knew it was coming and honestly he probably should be more torn up from this news than he was. Quinn had told him that she wanted to end the relationship because she felt that he had checked out on her emotionally and mentally and he had but that wasn't the real reason that she was ending things with him. There were two reasons that she was walking away from their year long relationship, one was that she wanted to be with someone else, she wanted to be with Puck. She had loved him since the end of their freshman year and it looked like Puck had finally grown up and realized that he wanted to be with Quinn. The second reason was that Quinn could see that Santi really wanted to be with someone other than her. He wanted Rachel Berry and it was obvious to everyone except Rachel and of course Finn.

"I promise you San that you will find someone who you love so much that nothing else in the world will matter." Stated Quinn knowing that he already had. She just hoped that he would pull his head out of his ass and do something about it soon. Before Rachel left Lima and never looked back.

"Thanks Q. I'm sorry that it couldn't work this time. I really hoped that this time would be different than all the other times. But I guess you don't find your soul mate when you're 10."

"But we had a good go of it this time Santi don't forget that."

"Never. Still friends?"

"Always Santiago always." With that Quinn turned to go to cheerleading practice.

He sat there for a few more minutes after Quinn left and then realized that she did deserve better she deserved someone like Puck that was going to love her and be there when she needed, not someone who was stealing glances at her best friend wishing that he was the one making her smile instead of that tall man child that she was with instead. It was this thought that was running rampant around his mind when he noticed a group of kids over by the bus lane. The closer he got the more he realized that the group of teenagers didn't go to his school but according to the jacket of one of the kids, they were from Vocal Adrenaline, the rival glee club.

"What the hell?" santi said to himself. That's when he saw it. There in the middle of the group was none other than Rachel.

Then everything happened so fast. One moment Rachel looked happy and was talking to the other team and then all of a sudden eggs were flying towards her before she could react. When it started to register in santiagos head his feet were already in motion taking him to her side. He, however, did not make it in time to stop the apparent leader of Vocal Adrenaline, Jesse St. something, walk up to Rachel stand right in front of her and smash an egg right on top of her head. Furious, santi picked up speed and by the time Jesse turned around it was already too late, Santiago had tackled him.

"What the fuck man? Have you lost your fucking mind?" santi said as he punched the smug ass kid in the face.

"What the hell man we were just showing her who's boss." Said jesse.

"Well then allow me to show you who is boss." As he punched him again.

"Santi!" Screamed Rachel.

"Santi please stop please! Santiago!" Rachel yelled one final time as she touched his shoulder. This seemed to bring his attention back to the present. He turned around and looked at Rachel.

"Please stop." She pleaded.

"What do you need rach?" questioned santi.

"Take me inside. I need to find Quinn and get cleaned up."

"Sure come one," he got off of Jesse and tucked Rachel under his protective grasp and turned around to face jesse and most of Vocal Adrenaline, "Come near her again and so help you I will break every bone in your puny body."

He couldn't believe that this had happened to someone like Rachel. She looked so beaten and broken. So unlike the diva he knew that she was. She cried into his shirt and never took her eyes off of the ground. Never again. He promised that never again would someone make her feel like this. He swore to himself that he would do whatever it took to make her happy to make her see herself the same way he did. Even if that meant he would have to do it from the sidelines, he would spend forever trying to make her feel special.


	4. Chapter 4

Present day

That day had cemented Rachel berry into my heart. No one but Quinn knew what had happened that

wasn't what I had decided but I went along with it because I didn't want to cause Rachel any more

humiliation. It was decided by Rachel and Quinn that no one turn Vocal Adrenaline in because it might

reflect bad on me and they couldn't afford to loose the performance. If I got in trouble then the New

Directions wouldn't have enough singers to compete. Here I was trying to protect Rachel all while she

was trying to protect me.

"Santi?" Rachel said. She has obviously said something that I was now required to answer.

"I'm sorry I blanked. What's up?"

"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come over tonight and we can talk about what you've missed

thus far?" The more she went on the lower her voice went.

"Sure I would love to. I mean yea sure."

"Great. Shoot I have something that I have to do after school since we don't have glee" she looked

genuinely upset.

"Hey it's cool I can wait for you." I said maybe more hopeful than I should have been.

"Nonsense I will have Finn take me home and I'll meet you at my house say 4."

"Cool I'll see you at four." Of course she would have something to do with Finn. Yet there was

something in her tone that led Santi to believe that she really rather not have to deal with Hudson.

Maybe there was hope for him yet. Or maybe he was hearing what he wanted to hear. Truth be told the

diva had made him feel things that he had never felt, things that he tried to feel with other girls and

even with Quinn but never had. The only problem with this situation was that Hudson had his hooks

into Rachel and she couldn't or wouldn't see past tomorrow with the football player and that killed

Santiago.

"Care to pull yourself out of your own head?" Asked Quinn who had magically shown up at Santi's

locker.

"Not really its actually quite nice here"

"I bet. Because that is the only place where you have actually told Rachel how you feel about her. "

"What are you talking about Q?"

"I'm talking about how when Rachel Berry walks into a room you turn into a stuttering idiot. I'm talking

about the reason I left. The reason that is painfully obvious to everyone. Everyone that is except you,

Rachel, and the jolly teen giant. I'm talking about love. You love her and you're scared."

"She's Finns that means off limits."

"Last time I checked Romeo, Rachel isn't a piece of property she's Rachel. And I also haven't noticed a

ring on her finger. So that means Rico Suave that there is still a chance for you to be happy. Tell her."

And as quickly as she appeared Quinn disappeared down the crowded hall. Quinn was right he hated

to ever admit that but maybe he could tell Rachel how he felt and maybe... Who was he kidding Rachel

was amazing and he was nothing of what she needed. He didn't deserve her. He would just go to her

house get the calculus notes and that would be the end of it.


End file.
